Selecting the right stretch forming equipment
For manufacturers, striving to increase profitability while expanding their capabilities and improving their processes, adding stretch forming to their repertoire may be the answer.
Stretch...
Controlling nitrided layers and enhancing predictability of nitriding process with metallography
Nitriding is the thermochemical process for producing surface layers in ferrous alloys, such as steels and cast irons used for making various mechanical components...
Integrating 3D printing into prototyping and production scenarios
At the recent TCT 3Sixty event in Birmingham, England, 3DPRINTUK ran a competition offering vouchers to be used against the cost of future 3D...
Optimizing forging machine productivity, longevity
As the forging industry’s most experienced maintenance staff and equipment operators retire, keeping legacy machines producing at full capacity is increasingly difficult. When new...
Aerospace Forging Market: An Avenue of Opportunities
Forging is a manufacturing process that has come a long way in the last century. In simple terms, forging is a process of shaping...
6 Benefits of AR in manufacturing
Manufacturers are increasingly incorporating augmented reality in their digital transformation strategy. Augmented reality provides a multiplier effect for improving the efficiency and quality of...
Inductive heating and flow chemistry: A perfect synergy of emerging enabling technologies
Inductive heating has developed into a powerful and rapid indirect heating technique used in various fields of chemistry but also in medicine. Traditionally, inductive...
Using polymer quenchants in an integral quench furnace
There have recently been several inquiries regarding the use of a polymer quenchant in a sealed or integral quench furnace. There are several drivers...
Advanced SAM validates integrity of diffusion bonds
Industries with demanding metal-bonding applications are increasingly relying on diffusion bonding, an essential joining method for achieving a high-purity interface between two similar or...
Advancements in powder DED
Powder DED, or directed energy deposition, has become a useful and economical tool within the world of metal-based additive manufacturing. Advancements within the process...
The effects of sintering temperature and atmosphere on stainless steel
So far, unlike metal injection molding (MIM), conventional powder metallurgy technology (PM) has not been regarded as a method for producing structural elements from...
10 tips to ensure accurate thermocouple measurement
Careful selection and installation of temperature sensors can ensure accurate sensor performance, which in turn improves product quality and production efficiency.
1: Select the Correct...
Carburized steel mechanical properties: Bending ultimate and impact strength
Editor’s note » This is part three of a three-part series on carburized steel mechanical properties.
In Part 2, it was determined that a test...
Effect of heat treatment on some titanium alloys used as biomaterials
Titanium-based alloys are constantly improved to obtain properties suitable for their use. Improving titanium alloys is very important for performing alloys without side effects....
Soaring demand for purified graphite spurs need for high-volume furnaces
The global demand for graphite is surging and expected to continue for decades, driven by the broad use of graphite for a range of...
Potential of nitrogen atomized alloy 625 in the powder bed fusion laser beam process
Powder-based metal additive manufacturing processes like powder bed fusion — laser beam use gas-atomized metal powders as feedstock material. Typically, for nickel-based alloys such...
Carburized steel mechanical properties: Bending ultimate and impact strength, test bars vs. actual parts
Editor’s note » This is part two of a three-part series on carburized steel mechanical properties.
In part one, it was determined the carburized case...
Understanding pyrometry technology is key to proper use
I teach pyrometry courses throughout the year and, when I do, I include a thermocouple tutorial video from YouTube. In this video the function...
The PLC-based industrial temperature control system: Design and implementation
Targeting the problem of slow response and low accuracy of the automatic temperature control system for material processing and boiler heating, a new design...
Carburized steel mechanical properties: Case tensile strength
Editor’s note » This is part one of a three-part series on carburized steel mechanical properties.
Carburizing is a mature heat-treating process commonly used for...
A new low-pressure carburizing solution in a pit vs. traditional pit carburizing methods
Pit Low Pressure Carburizing (LPC) for case hardening of large gears is a new approach to a traditional technology. Today’s manufacturing environment demands process,...
Mechanical properties and thermal conductivity of lightweight and high-strength carbon-graphite thermal insulation materials
Thermal insulation composites are widely used in civil and military applications; however, it is difficult to achieve the synergy of multiple technical objectives such...
How to tame a plasma: Power-delivery solutions for top process issues
Film quality, throughput, yield, etch uniformity, and sidewall control all depend on the ability to ignite, maintain, and control a stable plasma. Precise, nimble...
Considerations for selecting vacuum furnace hot zone insulation materials
Over the years, there have been many variations of hot zone insulation designs for vacuum furnace hot zones and can include the following configurations...
Cryogenic processing for longer tool life
In almost every industrial trade magazine, there will appear an occasional article about “cryogenics.” Thermal Processing has devoted an annual issue to cryogenic processing...
Integrated rupture disk assemblies for cryogenic equipment and storage systems
Today, cryogenics is used to provide convenient storage of large quantities of industrial gases such as nitrogen, oxygen, carbon dioxide, argon, helium, and hydrogen...
Plasma nitriding as a low-nitriding potential process
Plasma/ion nitriding is a process that can be easily applied to various high-alloy steels. Some of these steels — for example M-2, S-7, D-2,...
Heat treatment of steel measurement of hardness and tensile strength
The heat treatment of steel changes its microstructure, its hardness, and its tensile strength. These issues are of utmost importance as they are closely...
Investigating a new cooling technology for electric vehicles
The electric vehicle (EV) revolution is well underway: It’s estimated the number of EVs populating U.S. roads alone will double by 2024. And though...
4D Quench: Taking aerospace to new heights
When providing heat treatment for aerospace gears and bearing components, manufacturers are traditionally left with three choices for thermal processing: continuous flow atmospheric furnaces...
What ISO 17025 certification means for the heat-treating industry
ISO 17025 standards within the heat-treating industry are important when it comes to methods of calibration.
This is especially important at BASF, a company whose...
Industrial ion nitriding of TMS 80 micro alloyed steel parts at various plasma power...
Control of the ion nitriding process is typically based on temperature of the work piece, composition of the gas mixture, gas pressure, nitriding time,...
Additive manufacturing and its road to industrial maturity
The American Gear Manufacturers Association’s (AGMA) Emerging Technologies Committee (ETC) recently organized a show floor tour of the Rapid + TCT Exhibition (Rapid). The...
Additive manufacturing: New frontiers for production and validation
Over the last few decades, additive manufacturing (AM)/3D printing has fundamentally changed the way that manufacturers approach product development. Industry is now almost universally...
Choosing between HFC and HFDu hydraulic fluids
While both HFC and HFDu hydraulic fluids reduce fire risk, improve operation safety, and enhance environmental performance, significant differences exist. Standing at 50 to...
Carbo-nitriding of forging dies
Forging dies have to resist high mechanical and thermal loads. Therefore, they are usually nitrided. Former investigations showed that the abrasive wear at the...
Quenching: A long and varied history
There have been many myths concerning the quenchants used by ancient blacksmiths in the heat treatment of swords and knives. Various liquids have been...
Preventing oxidation in the manufacturing of copper-titanium alloys
Due to their resistant and highly conductive properties, copper-titanium alloys become increasingly important in the field of industrially manufactured electrical components such as connectors,...
Diffusion bonded printed circuit heat exchangers for severe environments
Traditional plate or shell and tube heat exchangers have long been used in processing industries. Today, however, with many new applications involving high pressures,...
Microstructure and tensile properties of Al PM prepared by novel low-pressure sintering
This article proposes a novel low-pressure sintering process contraposing to characteristics of pre-alloyed aluminum powders and analyzes its feasibility. The low pressure was set...
